Sources:

• Top: Forever 21
• Shorts: maternity consignment store
• Tank: Old Navy (tall size)
• Necklace: Tilly Bloom
• Sandals: Jeffrey Campbell (I’m not tired of them yet…)
• Bikes: “Oliver,” a 2010 Raleigh One Way (for N.) and “Sammy,” a 1986 Schwinn Le Tour Mixte (for E.)

End Notes:

Over the weekend N. and I had the delightful gift of free babysitting (thanks, sister-in-law P.!) and the chance to go on a bike date picnic in a nearby park to watch the fireflies. (I’ll be sharing more about the date itself on S.’s bike blog in the near future.) It was a beautiful night and also a great reminder to me of why I should celebrate my legs during this year’s Dress Your Best.

My legs have always been “there” and I’ve rarely been that impressed with either their aesthetics or their extraordinary functionality. Unlike A., S., and L., I’m not a marathoner or a serious runner. I can’t say that my legs have carried me tremendous distances or that they’ve overcome great adversity. They’re kind of pale and kind of…normal.

But, since beginning biking last year, my legs have acquired greater value in my mind. It’s not because of their athletic prowess — because honestly I don’t really ride that far or that fast — but simply because they have allowed me to participate in an activity that my husband loves and that I, in turn, have come to really enjoy. My legs have taken me on many a bike date exploration of our city with N., with little e., and with visiting friends and relatives. It’s become our “thing” that we do…together. We bike to our respective jobs, to church, to the grocery store, to friends’ homes. And when I pulled out little e.’s trailer and hitched him up to my bike for a library run, all on my own accord, I think husband N. almost burst with pride.

So thanks, legs, for giving me the ability to spend a special kind of quality time with my family. You may not be hardcore or super long or super toned or super anything, but you’ve given me a great gift. And I’m celebrating you by wearing short shorts.

Sources:

• Cardigan – Gap
• Jersey Dress – Banana Republic Factory Store
• Scarf – don’t remember
• Boots – Steve Madden Intyce
• Jean Jacket – Gap
• Bike – 1970s Schwinn Le Tour
• Helmet – Bern

Endnotes:

This week has been extremely busy with commencement events, advisor meetings, and out of town guests.  But, I did manage to fit in my first official bike commute to campus.  It was wonderful!  I’m hooked!

Here are a few pictures of my beautiful new bike (and my post-commute helmet curls):

Sources:

• Black shirt dress – H&M
• Pendant – Anthropologie
• Scarf as belt – my grandmother’s
• Silver sandals – Target
• Bike – Electra Hawaii
• Helmet – Nutcase

Endnotes:

Happy Braid Wednesday! It’s been a while since I’ve participated, but a simple outfit of a black shirt dress tied off with a scarf belt provides the perfect back drop for a more elaborate hairdo. Last time I posted a close up of this braid style, a reader asked how I did it. It’s pretty simple – I just twisted my hair into two Dutch braids, one on each side of my hair. I brought the braids and all of the unbraided hair together at the nape of my neck, divided it into three sections, and braided that into one long braid. I then took that braid and gathered it up into a loose knot at the nape of my neck. (I have no good pictures of this from the back because it’s surprisingly difficult to photograph the back of one’s own head, so maybe another time when I can employ a willing photographer…)

7 July 2010 – Braid Wednesday, originally uploaded by academichic.

Scarf belt, originally uploaded by academichic.

Riding my bike and wearing a helmet presents some hairdo challenges. I can no longer throw my hair up into a topknot (unless I’m willing to undo and redo it every time I remove my helmet, which I’m not). I also haven’t been wearing my hair down much because it’s so hot and humid. So differing braid styles have proven to be the best option. Even braids started at the crown of my head like these ones can snugly tuck into the helmet and look pretty unfazed when the helmet is removed. I think I will continue to experiment with helmet friendly hairstyle as the summer continues.

As for my shoes, they were eager to participate in Braid Wednesday as well…

Braid Wednesday , originally uploaded by academichic.

Will you be participating today? Check out the Braid Wednesday Group Pool for additional inspiration. Or, alternately, do you have any tips for helmet friendly ‘dos? Thanks! S.

The lovely Miss Sarah, who blogs about style and cycling on Girls and Bicycles (among motherhood and other things), has been showing fellow Canadians a thing or two about traveling in style. I love this gorgeous dress and that she’s not afraid to don it while cycling to her brunch date.

Similarly, the lovely Cosmo who co-blogs at Lost Angeles Cycle Chic, proves that showing up on a bike for your date is just the thing to do. I’m sure you’re date was as impressed as we are! (You can also find Cosmo’s fashion blog at I Do It Cosmo Style).

Fellow German-based Kasmeneo shows off his wonderful cycling and everyday style in his Flickr set and in the Velocouture group pool. Kasmeneo’s funky and wonderfully color-driven outfits not only question the notion that cycling can’t be stylish but also challenges gendered fashion as a construct.

Trisha and Dottie prove that you can have fun discovering a new town by bike and maintain your sense of fashion with this snapshot from their trip to Littlehampton, England. While Trisha is rocking the skinny jeans with a fabulous ruffle trim blouse, Dottie is looking very chic in a lovely dress and scarf combo.

And speaking of biking in dresses, check out this rockin’ picture sent in by Gee from Curitiba, Brazil. Gee’s blog Curitiba Cycle Chic aims to demonstrate, in her own words, “sustainable mobility with style.” Right on!

Brazilians aren’t the only ones who cycle in chic dresses: San Francisco moms do it too! If you’re familiar with cycling blogs, then you’re already well aware of Change Your Life: Ride a Bike! written by Adrienne (above) and Meligrosa (below). This is my favorite picture of Adrienne in her stylish wrap dress with her son on the back of the bike. I think it more than exudes confidence, style, sustainable living practices and good role modeling.

Not only is Meligrosa the talented co-blogger of Change Your Life: Ride a Bike! but you can also find her wonderful photography and chronicles of her rides through San Francisco at Bikes and the City.

Moving further north to the chilly climate of Minnesota, brings us to one of my favorite Velocouturists Mamichan. Biking to work in the busy city of Minneapolis, Mamichan proves that you can stay true to your professional wardrobe and still get around by bike. Mamichan has also committed to sustainable fashion choices by supporting local designers and crafters, showcasing her unique and wonderful style choices in her Flickr set.

Making yet another geographical jump, brings us to the talented writer and style blogger Jane in England, who is also likely to be found wearing a gorgeous dress while commuting around town on her bike. Jane, of the one-year-shopping-ban-project, also tackles sustainable living practices by using her bike whenever possible.

The lovely and always colorfully dressed Franca of Scotland has also been posting increasing images of her with her bike, venturing into the world of everyday dressing while bike commuting. If you’re looking for someone to inspire some awesomely bold and beautiful color combinations in your own approach to fashion, then Franca’s blog Oranges and Apples is a must-read for you.

I myself have recently rediscovered how much fun a bike can be and have challenged my own assumptions about the incongruences of fashion and fitness. You can find my cycle chic posts here, to which I hope to be able to add more to in the near future (am still bike-less in Munich but have received several offers of bike loans). I also want to direct you to the Velocouture Flickr group if you’re not already familiar with it, which is a constant source of inspiration, as well as the many style and bike blogs out there which are easily found by perusing any of the blogrolls of the cycle chic blogs named in this post.

What I especially loved about compiling this collection of images is the internationality of its sources: England, Brazil, US, Scotland, Germany, Canada… I love seeing how all over the world people are embracing sustainable living practices and consciously posting their efforts for others to feel inspired. Finding these examples on the internet pushed me to pull out my long neglected bike and attempt my first bike-in-a-skirt adventure. I hope that this post will similarly serve as a starting point or inspiration for someone else reading it and that it will add to the ever growing velocouture and eco-conscious living movement. S.

Endnotes:

Yesterday was spent running errands and getting organized in terms of my upcoming departure to Germany. Since I don’t know how soon after my arrival in Munich I will be able to get a bike, I’m relishing my last few days cycling about town to the post office, the campus library, and the grocery store. I found this jersey skirt and these wedges very easy to bike in: the stretchy-ness of the fabric allows for easy movement while the weight of this heavier jersey prevents it from flying up and exposing me to the world.

There is not much else to say about yesterday’s “day” look other that it was incredibly comfortable while still managing to appear put-together. I love it when those two criteria come together. S.

Endnotes:

While doing our color challenges, I think we all became acutely aware of what colors we wear frequently and which ones are lacking in our closets. E. wears yellow beautifully but both A. and I realized that we harbored somewhat of a fear of yellow garments. I own plenty of yellow accessories, but yellow tops or skirts to be worn in large blocks of color next to my skin were a lacking.

So on our last few shopping trips together, A. and I have been on a mission to see if we can find that one yellow item that works with our pigment. We both quickly ruled out any citrusy yellows or any pale yellows and have since been on a quest for the perfect mustard yellow. Well, my dears, I think I’ve got it! I found this ruffled Sam & Max top on my last trip to TJMaxx and it’s just the right shade of saturated mustard yellow that I don’t look sallow or jaundiced in it. Perseverance pays off!

This will also make a great fall or winter layering piece, adding interest with the ruffled neckline under a cardi or blazer. Multi-seasonal pieces are great when you don’t have a ton of money to spend on separate seasonal wardrobes and something I’m becoming increasingly conscious of when shopping. How about you? What color are you trying to incorporate into your wardrobe or what’s your favorite across-the-seasons item? S.

Endnotes:

I’m easing into our week of Monochrome and Split Complementaries with a simple gray and black outfit. I don’t wear monochromatic neutrals a whole lot, but when I do, I’m always struck with how elegant and sophisticated this kind of color simplicity looks. Monikulus, one of my favorite wardrobe_remixers, is the queen of grays and blacks and gorgeous monochromatic ensembles – just check out her Flickr set here if you’re ever in need of inspiration.

For my one pop of color, you may have noticed Nerp’s new bright pink basket. My other basket broke last week, so I was due for an upgrade. I’ve been inspired by the wonderful Julie Mack, another wardrobe_remix favorite, to go for a colorful milk crate after seeing how cute her bright red one is. As if Nerp wasn’t metrosexual enough, now he’s also sporting a pretty pink basket … but he likes it. He’s now the brightest and prettiest of all the bikes amid the bike rack crowd on campus. S.

Sources:

• Brown tank – J.Crew, remixed
• Jersey dress – BR Outlet 
• Brown woven belt – F21, remixed
• Gladiator wedges – Target, remixed 
• Bangle – Big Lots, remixed

Endnotes:

As much fun as our road trip was, it’s now back to reality and back to work. On our drive home yesterday, I complied my to-do list for the week and today I’m at the library and dutifully tackling it. After a week of much sitting in a car, it felt great to hop on my bike and pedal to campus. And increasingly a believer in the Velocouture movement, I’m seeing that you really can wear what you’d wear regularly and still bike commute. I wanted to wear this summery jersey dress today and my gladiator wedges and I was not to be deterred by my mode of transportation.

I know I’ve said this before, but one of my main concerns about biking was that I would have to change the way I dress and to sacrifice my style in order to do so. Fortunately, there are a growing number of chic cycle blogs like Lets Go Ride a Bike (no, really, check out this post!), Girls and Bicycles, and all of the Sartorialist-style bike blogs I listed in my previous posts here  that showed me otherwise!  So with laptop (in my back basket) and iced coffee in tow, I was out the door and to the library, where – if you’ll excuse me – I really should get to work now. S.

25 June 2009 – Morning, originally uploaded by academichic.

Morning:

• Fuschia running shorts – Old Navy
• Blue technical top – St. Louis marathon
• Running Shoes – Brooks

Endnotes:

I have a confession to make. I cheated on Nerp today. This morning, T. and another friend and I rented bikes and went on a beautiful 20 mile bike ride from Breckenridge to Frisco (Colorado) and back. We looped around scenic bike paths and trails and enjoyed the most amazing view of snow capped mountains in the distance.

 

Sources:

All remixed except necklace and umbrella:

• Purple top - Old Navy 
• Black linen skirt – H&M 
• Pink pumps – Antonio Melani 
• Bangle – Big Lots 
• Wood and glass necklace – made by me 
• Umbrella – Totes, bought in San Fran last week b/c it called for rain (and then of course it didn’t rain at all) 
• Yellow vintage bag – Sears brand, Garage sale find

Endnotes:

As E. already mentioned, it’s been a rainy dreary day here in the Midwest. But I too had errands to run that had to happen today and all of which were in rideable distance from me. And since I’ve just been reunited with Nerp, I really did not want to use the car to get around town just because the weather had developed an anti-Nerp agenda this week. So I thought I’d be clever and time my departure between bursts of rain and off I went.

But of course the moment I got out the door, a slow and steady drizzle started that continued for my entire four mile ride. Oh well, I still enjoyed the fresh flowers, the scent of summer, the adrenaline from riding in the rain like a kid in total abandonment – and my helmet proved extremely helpful in providing frizz-control by shielding much of my hair from the rain. 

While in Salzburg, I would see cyclists all the time who could ride one-handed in the rain while holding an umbrella in the other. Tell me, fellow cyclists, what do you do in the rain? I only pulled out the umbrella while walking between stops, but definitely could not pull the one-handed-bike-with-umbrella stint around traffic.

Now I’m snugly tucked away in a booth at a coffee shop and hoping for a second chance at timing my ride home. And while I’m sipping my delicious hot mocha, I get to enjoy this view of the storefront across the street. (Nerp is really smitten with that lovely be-flowered bike on display):

 Bikey store front window, originally uploaded by academichic.